Post navigation

The 1920’s were infamously known for the time of the Industrial Revolution. With the birth of mass production there were more jobs, and more product available at more affordable prices. But there was a paradigm switch in the realm of “quality”. Before this movement items were produced by individuals who specialized in mastering individual product. The level of quality was measured by the skills and talents of the product’s creator.

With mass production there was not one skilled tradesman who specialized in one specific product, but instead a series of unskilled individuals working their way through process. The quality race was defined by who had the technology and processes to build it better and at a better price point. Management of large plants like Ford needed to define processes in order to assure a 100% customer satisfactory conformity of product.

Several weeks ago I published this quote. It was not received well due to the fact that in day to day life it is considered that we should let lying dogs lie. LindagHill, kind enough to comment what everyone was thinking, requested that she would prefer to pick her battles. I understood her statement, and indeed I assured her this was also a mantra of mine even through quality control.

The importance of seeking out improvement is to prevent a kink in the chain, not just find something to be wrong for the sake of fixing it. If there is one issue in one step of the process ( as discussed last week) the entire product will come out wrong. The results would be costly, from our pockets and worse our public reputation. As technology continues to grow, so must your processes. If you are not utilizing all the resources available to you, then you are already behind your competition.

A few years back there was a viral Facebook post that circled the globe. A mother had found some strange mystery substance in her kids Capri Sun. The image made me want to vomit, and though it has been years I still refuse to purchase their product for my own kids. I cannot look at a Capris Sun without my stomach turning in knots from the memory of that image.

Waiting for a problem to occur leaves an opening for your customers’ to already perceive you as broken. Recalls and issues in your customer service need to be addressed before they are made viral, particularly in our present day in age (so consumed by instant gratification through social media). Before you are aware of a problem, you will be reading the issue on Facebook, this happened to me often as a DM.

What are some ways or strategies you utilize to practice Continuous Improvement?

I practice continues improvement by constantly trying to improve my education (reading books, taking classes, attending workshops). I also listen to what others are saying about my writing. I want to know what they like or don’t like and how I can improve.

If write something that is good, but that could be better than I want to know how to make it better.

I really liked what you had to say in this post. I am guilty of “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” thinking from time to time and it can backfire on you.

Yes, you are so right! We want quality work as a writer, we attend workshops, lectures, and expose ourselves to others. Blogging alone has dramatically improved my reading through practice, regular exposure to other authors, and the routine opportunity to experiment with my own kinks in the chain o fly writing style, or explore ways to improve it.